Being the first festival in the Arab world to focus on documentaries and shorts, the festival is a pioneer in the region and one of the most respected.

The Festival was inaugruated in 1991, organised by the Egyptian Film Centre. The coastal city of Ismailia, which was established in 1863 with the construction of the Suez Canal by Khedive Ismail, has hosted the previous fifteen editions of the festival.

The Ismailia festival awards the best films in four main competitions: long documentary films, short documentary films, short feature films and animation films. The awards include: The Golden Tablet award for $3000 awarded to the director of the best film in each category, a Jury Prize of $2000 given to two films in each category, ACT Prize for Best Women's film with a sum of LE 5000, and finally an audience award for the film of their choice.